TAG! You're...

[Linuts]

...BANNED!

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/18/no.tag.ap/index.html

This is the exact kinda sh!t that pissed me off back in my days in Hong Kong grade school. Should we just lock every student in a cage, next?

[Phate]

Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess
What?! That's ridiculous...

for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.
Oh, I see now. So they're bending over to the parents.

Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.
Oh he does? You sure that's not just you? Parents that are overprotective like this annoy the utter hell out of me.

[soundchazer]

This is the type of thing that is sending the U.S. down the toilet. What's next? Lawsuits to schools because the kids have to use the toilets and are potentially at risk of getting their hands soiled?

If the kid can't take a game of tag, the he/she better be homeschooled instead.

[Minnie]

Ahaha! Ridiculous.

Would someone stop imposing this kind of stupidity on the children!

[Mana]

As a victim who once scraped her knee during a violent and disturbing game of dodgeball, I must proclaim my support of this banning.
[/sarcasm]

[Two-twenty]

Stupid.

Back when I was in high school they wanted us to play touch football, because otherwise we would've just played mugby (think rugby only with prison rules, minus the rape) or a game called pile-on (where you pretty much just gang-tackle whoever has the ball. No points system. No rules.). That was likely to end in injury, so I could understand why they banned us doing it. But what in the hell could tag do? At the very worst you could push someone over, and that's only if the person who is up is a jerk. These new rules are for pansies.

[soundchazer]

Stupid.

Back when I was in high school they wanted us to play touch football, because otherwise we would've just played mugby (think rugby only with prison rules, minus the rape)

Jeezus man! How can you play mugby without the rape? You take all the fun out of it when you are not running for your life (or anal virtue)!

You sick, sick man... bring back the integrity to the sport of real men! ;)

[Phate]

Jeezus man! How can you play mugby without the rape? You take all the fun out of it when you are not running for your life (or anal virtue)!

You sick, sick man... bring back the integrity to the sport of real men! ;)
You rape guys for sport?

I don't know about you but I think that is a bit queer imo.

[soundchazer]

You rape guys for sport?

I don't know about you but I think that is a bit queer imo.

I knew I should have put the sarcasm tag... but I lost it in a game of "light" mugby.

[Phate]

I hope you use protection, dude.




Just saying.

[soundchazer]

I hope you use protection, dude.




Just saying.

Like a double sided jock strap?

[Roark]

You rape guys for sport?

I don't know about you but I think that is a bit queer imo.
They almost always invite bakashinji to their matches.

[soundchazer]

They almost always invite bakashinji to their matches.

And he loses more often than not.

[KiraraKim]

I think they might as well take away recess entirely. Let kids sit with their hands folded at their desk all day so they can't harm themselves. That way they will be prepared when they go home and sit all day in front of the TV or computer.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

Play gets in the way of work. Children must learn their place in society and realise to futility of fun.
Who needs activity when you have consumer goods?

[Arkaine Deao]

This is the same damn thing as the germophobe craze, only with physical injury. If we keep children from getting hurt once in a while, how in the hell are they going to deal with pain when it finally happens? Somebody in those schools needs to grow some (balls/ovaries) and take a stand against the overprotective yuppie scum of the earth!
But, rant over, this is one of the reasons I would like to work in education, because I'm not somebody who cares more about my next paycheck than about the development of our future. If this keeps up, America's screwed.

[fugupinkeye]

How rediculous. Back in my old high school, we used to play animal basketball (no dribbling, yes tackling) every day at lunch, out on the concrete. We learned that sometimes you get hurt, and you have to walk it off.

[Jayna]

My gosh...that's PATHETIC! Kids will ALWAYS get hurt no matter what you do, and most of the time they can get their heads smashed into a concrete floor and will proceed to jump up like nothing happened (I know, it happened to me, everyone was shocked when they saw the giant purple bump on my head later) And they also wonder why obesity is so high nowadays among kids, well you're taking away what few excercise they get in a day, so why are you surprised?!

It still makes me sad that we don't get Recess in High School. =( Not Nap time (though that would be appreciated...) just a moment where we can stretch our legs in a way that doesn't include being yelled at by your fat gym coach with a whistle...we aren't even allowed to walk around during lunch, because you know as kids get older they don't NEED excercise anymore, all they need is to study study study! o.o

Sorry that turned into a rant. Continue.

[Kaikyaku]

Kids are like bumbles.... they bounce! And I'm not just saying that, I actually learned about it in school. It takes a lot to do serious damage, as much as they may cry. Let them play! They have to learn.

[General Suburbia]

America is controlled by overprotective mothers who spend their leisure time watching Oprah. Too many shit created to "protect" our children.

Edit: damnit.

[soundchazer]

America is controlled by overprotective mothers who spend their leisure time watching Opera.

Actually, I would feel more at ease if they watched opera. The sad part is the watch SOAP Operas!!!

* soundchazer shudders

[Ojisan]

Oprah, maybe?

[soundchazer]

Oprah, maybe?

That too! Soccer moms are evil.

[Mana]

I thought it was just a typo for "Oprah"

EDIT: Damn 2 posts being posted while I was posting D:

[LakiDash]

First dodgeball, now tag, next...oh gods. Kickball!

It's a sad world we live in.

[Ghostmaster]

This country gets more screwed up by the day.

[L-sama]

This is totally ridiculous. Banning tag because a kid might get hurt?? You're just as likely to get hurt walking down the stairs. This whole overprotection of our impressionable youth is getting out of hand...

[silan]

I like this new rule system. Children need to learn that physical activity to beat others is a silly thing of the past. Now, all they need is a lawyer.

It is a cruel lesson, but one that must be taught as soon as possible. I'd even say that it needs to be done earlier. It's unthinkable that children are still entering kindergarten completely unaware of the way that the world works today and how they can manipulate that world to please themselves.

Sure as hell, if I have children, they'll know this from the time they come popping out of the womb.

[General Suburbia]

America is controlled by overprotective mothers who spend their leisure time watching Opera. Too many shit created to "protect" our children.
Meh. Typo on my part, I meant Oprah. Wonder where "opera" came from?

[ash_chan]

That's extraordinarily stupid.
By taking away tag, you're babying the child. It's like not letting a child ride his or her bike after falling down; All you succeed in doing is inducing a fear of pain into the kid. Sure, tag is dangerous, but so is walking. Falling while playing tag is a part of childhood. Hell, I lost a front tooth while playing tag. My family didn't hold the school liable. They knew that I was a kid, and kids get hurt. It's a natural part of life.

Pretty soon they'll ban tetherball, if they haven't already. Heaven forbid the kid breaks a nail while hitting the ball. Or how about banning wall ball. the ball might get away and poor little Jimbo will actually have to use some muscles in his chubby legs to go get it.

[isolatedotaku]

^You internet browser?

This is a nice steaming bile of male-cow waste. Back in my day, we beat each other with the metal teatherball poles. We played tackle football in the rain with a giant rock. Dodgeball was played with basketballs, soccer was played with basketballs and basketball was played with kindergardeners.

Only one of those things is a sarcastic remark, and it does hurt to be hit in the head with a metal pole twice your size.

Children today are taught at an early age that if they bitch, they get what they want. They are reflections of their pathetic-excuses of parents who baby their children and hide them from the real world. With each and every generation the average child is becoming more and more like an infant.

I think PE should be mandatory and should include dodgeball, kickball and tag as mandatory sports to be taught. Dodgeball teaches you how to take life in the face and move on. Tag teaches you how to run from your problems, then attack them head on. Kickball is just frickin' fun.

I beg you all, when you have children (or if you are SC, do this now); take your children out back and throw a ball in their face. Chase them until their legs fall off. LET THEM HAVE FUN!

[7Raven7]

It is just this kind of sensible legislation that will turn this country around. Too long have we focused on the security issues of allowing guns in school while ignoring the obvious source. For too long has violence infested the school activities of our youth and it is time to strike back!

It is only natural that long time culprits of panic inducing games like "Tag" and "Duck, Duck, Goose" be targeted first. Games where not only is there a promotion to increase the aggresiveness of impressionable children by allowing them to reclessly pursue one another, but boys chacing girls, girls chasing boys? It's pandamonium! And the touching... THE TOUCHING! It's no wonder sex crimes are on the rise!

Next to go need to be jump rope, the masichistic running towards a whip-like "rope" twirling at the speed of death; hop scotch, a frivalous display of angst hopping on one foot through circles and squares of numbers in a clear representation of some Satanic cult.

And board games are next. Nothing is more defiant to the pure ideals we base our society on then games like "Chutes and Ladders" and "Candy Land." A constant example of messuring ourselves vs. others in a toil to the top and laughing as others less fortunate than us go sliding down, and the promotion of an unhealthy diet and encouraging obesity and an obvious discrimination against those who are color blind. We lock up poisons in the household but allow our dear kids to play with games like these?

[jetfire]

Just like everyone else, I agree that this is the most idiotic thing I've heard. Those damn soccer moms. And even if the kids arent playing tag at school, what's to say they won't play it outside of school and hurt themselves? I hope this stupid rule doesnt come to Canada so my future kids won't have to go through with it. And even if that happens, I'll form local tag and dodgeball events, just so kids can actually have some fun and well needed exercise in their daily lives. Actually, it doesnt even need to be supervised. I'll just let them go out and play tag. If they scrape themselves, there's band-aids for that. I really hope the governments don't start outlawing unsupervised biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, etc...next.

And what's to say that a kid won't injure themself IN class? They could slouch on their chair and fall backward, they could poke themselves in the eyes with their pencils, or they could choke on their lunchables. Anything can be dangerous in certain circumstances. The people in charge of these rules were probably the really unpopular kids at recess, that werent able to join in a game of tag.

[Tamanegi Sensei]

Tag banned in school. People are too obsessed with safety for their kids. And this coming from mothers whom they let their kids play soccer. There are alot of other childish sports out there that will be takin away due to the "safety" of children. What? It was banned in Boston? Well that explains everything then!

[Two-twenty]

I think PE should be mandatory and should include dodgeball, kickball and tag as mandatory sports to be taught.
You don't have mandatory PE? Why the hell not? O_O

I came from a school where I took both mandatory PE and elective PE, so something like this just seems nuts.

It is just this kind of sensible legislation that will turn this country around. Too long have we focused on the security issues of allowing guns in school while ignoring the obvious source. For too long has violence infested the school activities of our youth and it is time to strike back!

It is only natural that long time culprits of panic inducing games like "Tag" and "Duck, Duck, Goose" be targeted first. Games where not only is there a promotion to increase the aggresiveness of impressionable children by allowing them to reclessly pursue one another, but boys chacing girls, girls chasing boys? It's pandamonium! And the touching... THE TOUCHING! It's no wonder sex crimes are on the rise!

Next to go need to be jump rope, the masichistic running towards a whip-like "rope" twirling at the speed of death; hop scotch, a frivalous display of angst hopping on one foot through circles and squares of numbers in a clear representation of some Satanic cult.

And board games are next. Nothing is more defiant to the pure ideals we base our society on then games like "Chutes and Ladders" and "Candy Land." A constant example of messuring ourselves vs. others in a toil to the top and laughing as others less fortunate than us go sliding down, and the promotion of an unhealthy diet and encouraging obesity and an obvious discrimination against those who are color blind. We lock up poisons in the household but allow our dear kids to play with games like these?
I declare this post epic.

[Major Tom]

Next in line is bubble wrap uniforms, with a special cotton wool lining. Compulsory between the hours of 8am and 3.30pm.

Yeah. How stupid. Kids are inventive enough to find more interesting ways to get hurt than just falling down. Like 2-20, the games my friends played (I usually watched, unfit people likke to watch) were far more rough that just bloody chasey.

Edit:
You don't have mandatory PE? Why the hell not? O_O

I came from a school where I took both mandatory PE and elective PE, so something like this just seems nuts

I concur with that. The system I came from had PE mandatory all the way up to the end of year 8, then it became elective.

[soundchazer]

the system where I came from had mandatory PE 3 times a week until 6th grade, then we were able to elect between 6 different sports from 7th grade until the end of high school.

[Dark Lord]

*sigh* Absolutely moronic... You might as well put the kids in leashes as well... What exactly made the school think that something this drastic was necessary? Tag was actually one of the things I used to look forward to in school... Chase games such as these are necessary to help a child grow physically and emotionally...

[Phate]

*sigh* Absolutely moronic... You might as well put the kids in leashes as well... What exactly made the school think that something this drastic was necessary? Tag was actually one of the things I used to look forward to in school... Chase games such as these are necessary to help a child grow physically and emotionally...
I don't think that this is the fault of the school as much as it is the fault of a bunch of tight-assed parents that decided to get together and put pressure on the school. The article itself says that the school decided to do it so students wouldn't get hurt and the school wouldn't be liable-- which implies that the school has faced this problem from the local parents before.

It really wouldn't surprise me, as I've seen it happen before.

[Dark Lord]

I don't think that this is the fault of the school as much as it is the fault of a bunch of tight-assed parents that decided to get together and put pressure on the school. The article itself says that the school decided to do it so students wouldn't get hurt and the school wouldn't be liable-- which implies that the school has faced this problem from the local parents before.

It really wouldn't surprise me, as I've seen it happen before.

Its this kind of overprotectiveness that is responsible for the increase in the number of socially inexperienced and emotionally deprived youths today...

[ShinoMatrix]

I concur with that. The system I came from had PE mandatory all the way up to the end of year 8, then it became elective.

It's up to year 10 around here. Quite frankly we were still running around till then around the school yard. Of course, we passed it off as training for the marathons we ran at the end of the year, but that's not the point. My point is... I don't know... these bans suck... running made me the man I am today ;D

[loner]

American parents: working hard to raise America's next obese, socially inept generation.

[Neo-Hunter]

wow, parents are just that p word i want to use but can't seriously grow some backbone will ya.

[~Xx_nikki_xX~]

what is the world coming to ?

[AqueousMessage]

As a resident of Massachusetts, this is not abnormal to me. In my public school age, they took away our field day, our non-politically correct Christmas party, our dodgeball (and all forms of it), our snowball fights, and many other things that this older mind can't remember.

And this quote just irks me: "Recess is 'a time when accidents can happen,' said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban."

That's what they are accidents. Not acts of violence from student-to-student, just kids being kids and having fun. I'm glad I grew in my generation.

[Moe]

if you cant play tag wtf are you gonna play when all the older children are hogging the balls and courts... tag and red rover were the only games i played until the 4th grade when i had authority on the play ground and even then sometimes the 5th and sixth graders would boss me around for the ball.

[The Geomancer]

I think it likely that there are gonna be plenty of folk who will not follow this new rule. whenever you make new rules, someone's gonna break 'em.